Arbeitspapier
When do reminders work? Memory constraints and medical adherence
An extensive literature shows that reminders can successfully change behavior. Yet, there exists substantial unexplained heterogeneity in their effectiveness, both: (i) across studies, and (ii) across individuals within a particular study. This paper investigates when and why reminders work. We develop a theoretical model that highlights three key mechanisms through which reminders may operate. To test the predictions of the model, we run a nationwide field experiment on medical adherence with over 4000 pregnant women in South Africa and document several key results. First, we find an extremely strong baseline demand for reminders. This demand increases after exposure to reminders, suggesting that individuals learn how valuable they are for freeing up memory resources. Second, stated adherence is increased by pure reminders and reminders containing a moral suasion component, but interestingly, reminders containing health information reduce adherence in our setting. Using a structural model, we show that heterogeneity in memory costs (or, equivalently, annoyance costs) is crucial for explaining the observed behavior.
- Sprache
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Englisch
- Erschienen in
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Series: CEBI Working Paper Series ; No. 18/22
- Klassifikation
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Wirtschaft
Microeconomic Policy: Formulation, Implementation, and Evaluation
Micro-Based Behavioral Economics: Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making‡
Field Experiments
Health Behavior
- Thema
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Nudging
Reminders
Memory
Attention
Medication adherence
Structural model
- Ereignis
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Geistige Schöpfung
- (wer)
-
Barron, Kai
Damgaard, Mette Trier
Gravert, Christina
- Ereignis
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Veröffentlichung
- (wer)
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University of Copenhagen, Department of Economics, Center for Economic Behavior and Inequality (CEBI)
- (wo)
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Copenhagen
- (wann)
-
2022
- Handle
- Letzte Aktualisierung
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10.03.2025, 11:42 MEZ
Datenpartner
ZBW - Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften - Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft. Bei Fragen zum Objekt wenden Sie sich bitte an den Datenpartner.
Objekttyp
- Arbeitspapier
Beteiligte
- Barron, Kai
- Damgaard, Mette Trier
- Gravert, Christina
- University of Copenhagen, Department of Economics, Center for Economic Behavior and Inequality (CEBI)
Entstanden
- 2022